This volume encompasses a time span of about one thousand years, from the emergence of the Seleucid empire in 312 B.C. to the collapse of the Sasanian empire in A.D. 651. The period saw the rise and fall of three mighty dynasties, the Seleucids, the Arsacids, and the Sasanians, as well as the formation of a number of states and empires to the east, notably the Greco-Bactrian kingdom and the Kushan empire. In the religious sphere the millennium witnessed the expansion of gnostic tendencies in western Iran and Mesopotamia, culminating in the appearance and spread of Manichaeism; the consolidation of Zoroastrianism under the Sasanians as an authoritarian state Church; and the birth and suppression of the egalitarian movement of the Mazdakites. In more general terms, the era saw the ascendency and demise of Hellenism in Iran; the development of a distinct Iranian art-style with wide impact; the evolution of a national saga; the development of local systems of writing in the major provinces; and finally, the shaping of an administrative system and court procedures which were to play an important role in the 'Abbasid caliphate and its eastern vassal states.
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Contents
List of plates page / ix List of line drawings / xi List of maps / xiii
Editorial note / xv
Introduction / xvii by Ehsan Yarshat
Part 1: Political History
1 The Seleucid Period / 3 by E. Bickerman, Emeritus Professor of Ancient History, Columbia University, New York
2 The Political History of Iran Under The Arsacids / 21 by A. D. H. Bivar, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
3 Iranians in Asia Minor / 100 by Leo Raditsa, St John's College, Annapolis, Maryland
4 The Political History of Iran Under the Sasanians / 116 by R. N. Frye, Professor of Iranian, Harvard University
5 The History Of Eastern Iran / 181 by A. D. H. Bivar
6 The Political History Of Transoxiana / 232 by E. v. Zeimal, The Hermitage Museum, Leningrad
7 Iranian Settlement East of the Pamirs / 263 by R.E. Emmerick, Professor of Iranian Philology, University of Hamburg
Part 2: Numismatics
8 (a) Parthian Coins / 279 by David Sellwood, Kingston Polytechnic, President of the Royal Numismatic Society
(b) Minor States in Southern Iran / 299 by David Sellwood
9 Sasanian Coins / 322 by Robert Göbl, Professor of Ancient Numismatics and the pre-Islamic History of the Middle East, University of Vienna
Part 3: Iranian Historical Tradition
10 (a) Iranian Common Beliefs And World-View / 343 by Ehsan Yarshater
(b) Iranian National History / 359 by Ehsan Yarshater
Part 4: Iran and Her Neighbours
11 Iran And Mesopotamia 481 by Wilhelm Eilers, Emeritus Professor of Oriental Philogy, University of Wirzburg
12 Iran, Armenia and Georgia / 505 by David M. Lang, Professor of Caucasian Studies, University of London
13 Iran and China 537 by William Watson, Professor of Chinese Art and Archaeology, University of London
14 Cultural Relations Between Parthia and Rome / 559 by the late Otto Kurz
15 Byzantium and the Sasanians / 568 by Nina Garsoïan, Centennial Professor of Armenian History and Civilisation, Columbia University
16 Iran and the Arabs Before Islam / 593 by C. E. Bosworth, Professor of Arabic Studies, University of Manchester
17 Irano-Turkish Relations in the Late Sasanian Period / 613 by A . Von Gabain, Professor of Theology and Chinese Buddhism, University of HamburgThe Index to volumes 3(1) and 3(2) will be found at the end of volume 3(2).
EDITORIAL NOTE
Efforts have been made to achieve a measure of consistency in the transcription of Iranian words and proper names. However, ambiguities in the spelling and pronunciation of Middle-Iranian words make complete consistency neither possible nor desirable. In some cases different spellings represent different readings or opinions (e.g. Kartir/Kerdir/Kirter); in others variant forms are sufficiently current to warrant noninterference (e.g. Hormazd/Hormizd); yet in others different spellings are dictated by the period or the context (e.g. Ahura Mazda/Ohrmazd/Hormizd, Artaxser/Ardashir, Stakhr/Istakhr, xwarmahlx"arra\farralj). Therefore a number of alternative spellings have been allowed. In a few cases the difference stems from the use of classical or anglicized forms (e.g. Chorasmia/Khwarazm, Chosroes/Khusrau, Bushahr/Bushire). Itis also worth adding a note on the transliteration of Russian (which turns up primarily in the citration of sources). With manuscripts coming in over a number of years, and from scholars in various disciplines, writing their original contributions in several different languages, it seemed neither prudent nor practicable to impose a single system of transliteration.
Each Part of the Volume is preceded by a short editorial note to place the chapters of that Part in perspective. Cross references are used in the footnotes to indicate or coordinate discussions of the same subject in different contexts, or to point out divergent views [normally in square brackets].
The bibliography to each chapter serves both to provide the details of the works referred to in the footnotes and to bring together a comprehensive selection of publications for the benefit of researchers.
A general review and synthesis of the topics treated in the volume is attempted in the Introduction.
Invitations to contributors began to go out more than ten years ago. Whereas some chapters were received as late as 1980 a few were written in the early seventies and the majority in the middle seventies. Although the authors have been able to check the proofs in the period 1977-80 and bring the bibliographies generally up to date and even make use of recent publications, the reader should bear in mind that the occasional absence of some recent works in the bibliographies cannot reflect on the diligence of the authors but is attributable to the long process that was inevitably involved in the preparation of a volume of this kind.
The Editor wishes to acknowledge with thanks the assistance he has received from a number of colleagues. Sir Harold Bailey has generously helped with much useful information and bibliographical data; Edith Porada kindly prepared for publication the chapter on Parthian art by the late Daniel Schlumberger, and Trudy S. Kawami compiled the bibliography for it; Ilya Gershevitch revised the translation of the late Jean de Menasce's chapter on Zoroastrian literature and Philip Gignoux drafted the bibliography; Mary Boyce reviewed the chapters on the National History and Mazdakism and made valuable suggestions. Peter Burbidge of the Cambridge University Press provided the muchneeded drive for the completion of the volume.
The Editor is especially grateful to his friend Hubert Darke, the Editorial Secretary, who supervised the preparation of the illustrations and maps, checked a great many bibliographical items, and helped with the correction of proofs with characteristic care and exemplary dedication; in fact his unfailing readiness to assist in all aspects of the editorial function proved essential. The Editor is further indebted to his friends Ilya Gershevitch, Mary Boyce and Prudence Harper for reading the Introduction and offering helpful criticism.
Cordial thanks are due to all the contributors to the volume for their forbearance with the long process of editing and publication.
E.Y. Columbia University January 1982
Introduction
This volume encompasses a time span of about one thousand years, from the emergence of the Seleucid empire in 312 B.C. to the collapse of the Sasanian empire in A.D. 651. The period saw the rise and fall of three mighty dynasties, the Seleucids, the Arsacids, and the Sasanians, as well as the formation of a number of states and empires to the east, notably the Greco-Bactrian kingdom and the Kushan empire. In the religious sphere the millennium witnessed the expansion of gnostic tendencies in western Iran and Mesopotamia, culminating in the appearance and spread of Manichaeism; the consolidation of Zoroastrianism under the Sasanians as an authoritarian state Church; and the birth and suppression of the egalitarian movement of the Mazdakites. In more general terms, the era saw the ascendency and demise of Hellenism in Iran; the development of a distinct Iranian art-style with wide impact; the evolution of a national saga; the development of local systems of writing in the major provinces; and finally, the shaping of an administrative system and court procedures which were to play an important role in the 'Abbasid caliphate and its eastern vassal states.
The History of the Period
Seleucus, one of Alexander's generals, seized Babylon in 312 B.C. and forged a large empire which included most of western Asia. The eastern provinces of the empire, however, where the Parthians, Bactrians, Sogdians and Chorasmians lived, did not remain long in the possession of the Seleucids, slipping away from their hold when the satrapies of Bactria and Parthia aspired to sovereignty. The defection in 246 B.C. of Diodotus, satrap of Bactria, marked the beginning of a new dynasty, the Greco-Bactrian, which gradually expanded southward, occupying the Kabul valley, the Peshawar region, and Taxila in the Punjab. Eventually this led to the formation of other dynasties with a southward bent - the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian. They controlled Afghanistan, northwestern India, and sometimes beyond, before the Kushans, leading some powerful Saka tribes, supplanted them in the 1st century A.D.1
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1 The date and the ethnic identity of the Kushan kings is controversial; see pp. 197ff. for a full discussion. (Chapter and page numbers mentioned in these notes without specifications refer to chapters and pages in the present volume; page numbers in brackets refer to the bibliography.)
Ehsan Yarshater
The Cambridge History of Iran
Cambridge University
Cambridge University Press The Cambridge History of Iran In seven volumes Volume 3(1) The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods edited by Ehsan Yarshater Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies Columbia University, New York
Cambridge University Press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.0rg/9780521200929
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1983 Fourth printing 2006
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
Library of Congress Cataloguing card number: 67 —128 45
The Cambridge history of Iran. Vol. 3 : The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods
I. Iran _ History I. Yarshater, Ehsan 955 Ds 272
ISBN-13 978-0-520092 -hardback I S B N -10 0-5 21-2 0 0 9 2 - x hardback
Board of Editors
Sir Harold Bailey (Chairman) Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit University of Cambridge
Basil Gray (Vice-Chairman) Formerly Keeper of the Oriental Antiquities British Museum
P. W. Avery Lecturer in Persian University of Cambridge
C. E. Bosworth Professor of Arabic Studies University of Manchester
W. B. Fisher Professor of Geography University of Durham
Ilya Gershevitch Reader in Iranian Studies University of Cambridge
Mahmoud Sana'i Emeritus Professor of Psychology University of Tehran
H. S. G. Darke (Editorial Secretary) Lecturer in Persian University of Cambridge
